Matthew Boyd is pitching toward a 2025 All-Star Game nomination following another outstanding start for the Chicago Cubs. The veteran lefty earned his eighth win of the season Tuesday night, limiting the Cleveland Guardians to two runs over seven innings as the Cubs took the series opener at Wrigley Field 5-2.
Boyd was an under-the-radar signing by the Cubs in the offseason, drawing some criticism from the fan base over his two-year contract. The veteran left-hander had been derailed by injuries throughout his MLB career and had not thrown more than 100 innings in a season since 2019, when he was with the Detroit Tigers.
Now, in his first year with the Cubs Boyd may very well end up being nominated to his first All-Star team.
The 34-year-old has only allowed more than three earned runs once in 17 starts so far in 2025 with the Cubs.
He has tough competition in the National League, but Boyd currently ranks sixth in the NL with a 2.65 ERA in 98.2 innings pitched. Plus, Chris Sale, who would be a lock for the All-Star Game, was recently placed on the 60-day injured list after suffering a rib fracture in June. So, Boyd at the very least could be an injury replacement if not directly nominated by his peers.
Since giving up four runs to the Cincinnati Reds on May 23, Boyd has been a stud, posting a 1.66 ERA in seven starts.
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It's hard to say that a game in June was a must-win, but veteran lefty Matthew Boyd stepped up and played the role of stopper for the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday. He threw six shutout innings, leading the way on the mound en route to an 8-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. Boyd, who agreed to a deal relatively early this past offseason, has been Jed Hoyer's best free agent signing and the left-hander should be an All-Star this year.
Boyd signed a two-year, $29 million contract with the Cubs and at the time it raised some eyebrows considering the pitcher's injury history. The 34-year-old had not tossed more than 100 innings in any season since 2019, and was coming off a year in which he had a total of eight regular season starts. However, there was promise in Boyd's small sample size with the Cleveland Guardians and so far in 2025 Hoyer looks like a genius for snapping him up in free agency.
Entering Wednesday night's game in St. Louis the Cubs had lost five of their last six. Not only were they losing, the pitching staff was been bludgeoned, allowing 54 runs during that six-game stretch. Boyd delivered another superb outing, recording his 11th quality start of the year that gave the Cubs the ability to cruise to a much-needed victory.
Boyd hasn't shown signs of regression and has actually been better as of late after beginning the year strong. He's now had six straight starts giving up two runs or fewer, resulting in a 1.49 ERA in 36.1 innings since May 28.
Through his first 16 starts with the Cubs in 2025, Boyd has posted a 2.65 ERA. That mark currently ranks sixth best among starting pitchers in the National League.
NL Starting Pitcher Leaderboard (ERA)
1. Paul Skenes: 2.12
2. Logan Webb: 2.52
3. Chris Sale: 2.52
4. Zack Wheeler: 2.55
5. Yoshinobu Yamamoto: 2.61
6. Matthew Boyd: 2.65
Last year Boyd made his season debut on Aug. 13, against the Cubs in Cleveland. He gave up one run on three hits in 5.1 innings, making his first start in the majors since undergoing Tommy John surgery with the Detroit Tigers in the middle of 2023. Boyd recorded a 2.72 ERA and 1.13 WHIP in 39.2 innings with Cleveland and then in the postseason he surrendered a lone run in 11.2 innings.
That 50-inning sample size gave the Cubs enough insight to trust what he could bring to the table in Chicago and in a season where the team has been without their top-two starting pitchers, Justin Steele since mid-April and Shōta Imanaga since early May, Boyd has done an incredible job of providing a stabilizing presence in the rotation. Now, as we approach the midsummer classic, Boyd is getting closer to being on the first All-Star team of his MLB career.
